The value of the Powerball jackpot tops the list of lottery payouts in this convenience store in Minneapolis on Feb. 18. / Jim Mone, AP

by Melanie Eversley and Gary Strauss, USA TODAY

by Melanie Eversley and Gary Strauss, USA TODAY

We have a $425.3 million Powerball winner - someone who purchased a winning ticket at a gas station in the heart of northern California's Silicon Valley. But there's no word yet on what lucky person won the sixth-largest jackpot in U.S. history.

The payout is worth a lump-sum, pre-tax payout of about $242.2 million.

California lottery officials said the ticket was sold at Dixon Landing Chevron gas station in Milpitas, about 10 miles north of San Jose. Station owner Kulwinder Singh was traveling to India when they arrived.

Chevron employee Rajwinder Singh said he probably sold it.

"I've been here working from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.," he said. "I hope I'll find out soon."

The store - which received a $1 million check Thursday morning from California lottery officials for selling the winning ticket - was a buzzing with activity since word began to spread. "We're getting telephone calls," said employee Bipin Sangh.

Odds of winning were 1 in 175.2 million. But it was the second time in two months that California made lottery history. On Dec. 17, a Steve Tran of San Jose split a $648 million Mega Millions jackpot with a Georgia woman.

Tran didn't claim his $324 million until Jan. 2. Tran, a delivery driver, and his family had been on vacation and had not had a chance to check through a pile of lottery tickets he had purchased at multiple locations.

Wednesday's jackpot mushroomed since rolling over several times since December, jumping to $400 million Sunday after no one matched Saturday's jackpot drawing, then worth $330 million. Had it rolled again, it would have likely reached at least $500 million ahead of this Saturday's drawing.

Ticket sales in 43 states and the District of Columbia, may have been slowed by cold weather. Lottery officials note that the current jackpot reached its girth rolling over 16 times. It took just 12 rollovers to swell a September jackpot to $399.5 million jackpot, meaning more lottery tickets were purchased in a shorter time frame.

Still, Chuck Strutt, head of the Multi-State Lottery Association, says ticket sales gained momentum in the hours leading up to the drawing, which pushed the estimated $400 million jackpot to $425.3 million.

"Wednesday sales did jump and surprised us with a higher jackpot,'' Strutt told USA Today Thursday.

Powerball's record jackpot is $590 million, won by a Florida woman last May. Mega Millions had a record $656 million jackpot in March 2012, split by three tickets holders in Kansas, Illinois and Maryland.